Adapter for multiple connections to intravenous fluid receptacles and the like



, M y 19; 1910 RJH. ROMN'EY' all 3,512,806

ADAPTER FOR MULTIPLE CONNECTIONS TO INTRAVENOUS FLUID' RECEPTACLES ANDTHE LIKE 1 Filed Jan. 22, 1968 6 INVENTORSH Z U RUSSELL H. RCMNEY RODGERS. FULLMER I 3 BY: 50mm M. THOMAS Fi ATTORNEY United States PatentOffice 3,512,806 Patented May 19, 1970 3,512,806 ADAPTER FOR MULTIPLECONNECTIONS T INTRAVENOUS FLUID RECEPTACLES AND THE LIKE Russell H.Romney, 3259 Bon View Drive 84109, and Rodger S. Fullmer, 1511 East 7335South 84121, both of Salt Lake City, Utah Filed Jan. 22, 1968, Ser. No.699,660

Int. Cl. F161 39/00 Int. Cl. 285-137 2 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSUREBACKGROUND AND PRIOR ART For medical and surgical treatments involvinginjec tion of liquids into a living body, various means have been usedand proposed to connect the necessary flow lines to catheters, syringes,etc., and the necessary air inlets, e.g. for intravenous injections.Commonly such connections are made to or through a multiperforatestopper or closure for a glass bottle, one line for outflow of theliquid and another for inflow of air. See for example US. Pat No.3,014,481.

Commonly, separate devices are connected to or inserted through a rubbercork and the flow lines in turn are connected to these. Complex clampsand other retainers have been proposed to prevent inadvertentdisconnections to spill the liquid, allow air to enter improperly, etc.It is highly important for sanitary as well as economic reasons to avoidleakage, and admixture of air into the liquid being administered islikely to endanger the life of the patient.

In addition, it is desirable sometimes to apply supplemental airpressure in addition to the hydrostatic pressure normally provided byelevating the container above the patient, as suggested, for example, inUS. Pat. No. 3,230,954. Obviously, if pressure greater than atmosphericis supplied, the risk of fluid leakage is increased. The difliculty ofmaintaining suitable liquid tight and gas tight connections likewiseincreases. The present invention is designed to overcome thesedifliculties.

For the above and other reasons, several attempts have been made in thepast to adapt the necessary closure connections to bottles and othercontainers so that they can be used for intravenous, feeding,transfusions and other body injections. Special clamps for various typesof closures, e.g. with tube connectors running throughperforated rubbercorks and the like have been so used.

Since at least two connections ordinarily must be made at the bottleclosure, one for the liquid outflow and another for an air inlet tobreak the-vacuum which otherwise would be created and prevent outflow,most prior art devices have been awkward or complicated, unhandy to use,and tending to become unsanitary in service. Surgeons and nurses need tohave their hands as free as possible and where feasible they should beable to make necessary safe and reliable connections with one hand.Prior art devices usually have not permitted this. Also,

it is very important, obviously, that reversal of air and llqllldconnections can never be made inadvertently.

It is one object of the present invention, therefore, to design aconnection adapter which makes reliable and safe connections to liquidcontainers possible with one hand. Another object is to provide aunitary adapter device for bottles and like containers, whichfacilitates making double connections, which is leak proof, and which iseasy to clean and keep sanitary. Still another object is to design theadapter so that inadvertent reversal of the liquid outlet and air inflowconnections is impossible. Other objects and advantages will appear inthe detailed description below.

SUMMARY A unitary adapter, for connecting a pair of fluid lines to aliquid containing receptacle such as a bottle having a multi-perforatestopper, so as insure that the two lines will not be interchanged, hastubular elements fixed to a disc or like body element, the outer ends ofthe tubes being respectively male and female to cooperate respectivelywith female and male end connections on the fluid lines. The tubularelements also bear enlarged flanges to insure retention in a stopper,such as a resilient perforated cork. Quick release connections to thelines are made by angular locking motion to twist cooperativeprojections into spiral grooves or the like, i.e. generally similar tobayonet type locking.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS FIG. 1 shows a plan view of the adapterper se.

FIG. 2 shows the adapter in perspective, as applied to a conventionalbottle having a conventional stopper.

FIG. 3 is a vertical sectional view, taken approximately along the line33 of FIG. 1.

DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENT As shown in the drawings, theadapter per se comprises a base or body element, shown here as a plateor disc 11 of corrosion resistant metal, e.g. chromium or nickel platedbrass, Monel metal, stainless steel or the like. Running through disc 11are shown two tubular connectors 13 and 15. An additional opening 16 isprovided for a possible third connection. Connector 13, as shown,comprises a male conical hollow tip element 17. An annular lockingshroud 19 surrounds and is annularly spaced from tip 17. Parts 17 and 19may be integral or may be made separately and secured together withsilver solder or equivalent through a common cylindrical base element18. Tip 17 is continued downwardly as seen in FIGS. 2 and 3 by acylindrical part 20 passing through the base member, plate or disc 11,to which it is secured by silver solder or the like. Below disc 11 thetube has a reduced neck or waist portion 21 adapted to fit snugly andleak-proof within an opening 23 of a conventional two hole rubber corkor stopper 25. A11 enlarged radial flange element 27 followed by areducing taper 28 below it facilitates insertion of the connector intothe rubber stopper and makes removal more diflicult, to preventaccidental or inadvertent pulling of tube 17, 20, 21 out of the stopper.An inner (lower, as seen in FIGS. 2. and 3) cylindrical part 29 extendsa short distance beyond the stopper, serving as a trap to catch anysmall amount of sediment that may settle when the bottle 30 or otherequivalent container is inverted for use where enlarged flange 27 locksit.

The outer or upper annular locking part 19 may be provided with alocking element 33. This is shown, in a form known in the art, as ashort spiral or helical section of thread or detent, adapted to engagean outer corner of a square or other polygonal shaped female tip element35 of a liquid flow outlet line 37 which is adapted to be connectedtherewith (FIG. 2). When the tip 35 is placed over the male tip 17 andpushed down into annular member 19 to a point where one corner (anyupper corner) of the tip will engage under the locking element 33, afractional turn, e.g. to the right, locks the parts securely together,the tip 17 being forced into a fluid tight fit within the complementarytapered opening in member 35. These parts per se are known and areavailable on the market.

The air inlet line also connects through the adapter by means of tubularelement 15. The outer end of this is formed as a female taper 40. It canbe complementary to the male tip 17 of part 13, though not intended tobe connected therewith. Element 15 has a square or other polygonalshaped upper end part 41 which is analogous to and in some cases may beidentical with part 35, FIG. 2. Below part 41 is a cylindrical portion43 surrounding the internal taper 40. An enlarged cylindrical part 45tapering down to a smaller cylindrical part 47 follows the cylindricalpart .43. A further reduction in diameter 49 is provided to fit in andbe secured to the base member 11. Below this, the connector 15 is neckeddown at 51 to fit snugly within the second opening 52 in the cork orclosure 25 where a flange similar to 27 locks it to the closure. Hereagain an enlarged radial flange or annulus 53, tapered on its lowersurface to facilitate insertion into the closure 25, is provided. Theenlarged radial flange 53 strongly resists removal from the stopper andthus prevents accidental or inadvertent removal.

A glass or plastic tube 54 fits into the extension 55 of opening 52,extending to the bottom (top, when inverted for use) of the container30.

An air inlet line 60, FIG. 2, is fitted with an appropri ate maleconnection to fit the female tip 40; except for reversal, these partsare like elements 17 and 35.

They may be conveniently of identical shapes and sizes, since reversalof the respective parts makes inadvertent reversal of connectionsimpossible. The tip element 62 on tube 60 preferably is provided with anouter annulus and locking element equivalent or identical to the parts19, 33, already described the locking means and associated tips per sebeing of known design.

Connection of the liquid flow line is made by inserting the tube end 35inside the annulus 19 and over the male tip element 17 and giving ashort angular twist. Likewise, connection to the air line (which may beat atmospheric pressure or higher pressure if desired) is made byplacing the tip 62 of line 60 over the square ended female connector tip41, 40 and giving a short angular twist to establish a tight connection.

Obviously, the connector tips may be of other designs, so long as theyare reversed or otherwise designed to positively prevent inadvertentmisconnection. One or both connecting elements in either or both linesmay be elastic while its complementary connector is rigid, e.g. one partmay be of rubber or other plastic construction or lining while the otheris metallic. Instead of the particular shroud and helical threadinterlock with a corner element, a bayonet type joint, well known in theart, may be used. The design in any case is one which requires onlysimple movements for attachment and detachment. It provides preferablyfor easy and secure locking or unlocking of the connections by use ofonly one hand.

The whole adapter preferably is formed so that it attaches very securelyto the stopper, although it can be removed. by firmly pulling theprongsor. tubes 13, 15 out of the openings 23, 52.

It is desirable in some cases to provide further insurance againstdisconnection, particularly against inadvertent removal of the stopperitself. To prevent the rubber stopper 25 from coming out of container 30inadvertently, a band 70 of adhesive tape or of metal may be wrappedaround the flange of the cork and the neck of the container with itsedges inturned, as shown in FIG. 3. A simpler fastener, usuallypreferred because it is very easy to apply and remove, is a simple stripof adhesive tape 72 pulled over the stopper with its ends running downand secured to the opposite sides of the container as shown in FIG. 3.

It will be understood that various modifications and adaptations may bemade within the spirit and purpose of the invention,.as will readilyoccur to those skilled in the art. For example, the connecting parts mayboth be elastic, or one elastic and one rigid, etc., if. it is notdesired to .use the conventional tapered connections described.

What is claimed is:

1. An adapter for connecting a pair of fluid lines having respectivelyfemale and male end connections to a liquid receptacle through amultiperforate stopper, said adapter comprising, in combination, a mainbody element, a pair of connector tubes secured to said body element,each tube being designed for insertion and retention in one of theperforations in said stopper, each of said tubes having a shank or neckportion of relatively reduced diameter terminated by an enlargedradially projecting flange for holding said portion firmly in thestopper, one of said connector tubes having a male end connection forfitting into the aforesaid female connection on one of said fluid lines,the other of said tubes having a female end connection for receiving theaforesaid male connection on the other of said fluid lines, and quickrelease means comprising cooperating groove and projection elementsembodied in said male and female connections for locking said lines tosaid tubes by a short angular twist of respective parts at eachconnection, the arrangement of said male and female parts being such asto insure against'inadvertent interchange of connections between saidtubes and lines.

2. An adapter according to claim 1 wherein at least one member of eachmale and female set of connections is of resilient material.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS THOMAS F. CALLAGHAN, PrimaryExaminer us. 01. X.R.

12s 214; 215 79; 2ss-1sa 401

